Mark 14:27-31 - You will deny me

14:27,28

Jesus now has bad news for the disciples, they will all fall away! Jesus quotes Zech 13:7, and the whole section Zech 13:7-9 is very poignant. The verse here speaks of the shepherd being struck with the sword, the sheep scattered. It then goes on talk about two thirds being perishing from the whole land, and a remnant being refined. We could see an allusion to AD 66-70 in that, and the eventual return of the Jews to Christ. However, we will stick to the immediate point, the disciples being scattered when Jesus is taken. We need to appreciate that Jesus is under no illusions as to our true nature! And yet He still chooses us. In almost all of Jesus’ talk if His suffering there is an immediate foretelling His resurrection as well. This time He tells them that He will go ahead of them to Galilee, see Mark 16:7.

14:29-31

Jesus knew the heart of His disciples, Peter did not know his own heart. Peter makes his now infamous declaration that even if everyone else falls away he won’t. We can sometimes be intimidated by bravado statements of others. Far more courage is declared than is ever demonstrated. Jesus then tells Peter just how quickly, and to what extent, he will fall away. Peter won’t just fall away, he will disown Jesus three times. We should remember that in Mark 8:38 Jesus says that anyone who is ashamed of Him, then Jesus will be ashamed of them. Peter did deny Jesus, yet he was restored. We need to take the “harsh” words of Jesus together with the words of restoration. Their primary purpose is to be a severe warning so that we do not fall from the path. At the same time we must remember Judas, for him there was no way back. So we must not fall into despair, but at the same time we must treat with utter seriousness the warnings of Jesus.

Peter is even more emphatic in his supposed commitment to Jesus, and the other disciples join in with these declarations. Events would soon show these declarations to be utterly worthless.